


To Make A Home

by Zivitz



Series: To Make A Home [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Babyfic, F/M, Ficlet, Gen, Kidfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28344975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zivitz/pseuds/Zivitz
Summary: Abby and Marcus embark on a new journey as parents. AU after mid-season 3.
Relationships: Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane
Series: To Make A Home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090235
Comments: 32
Kudos: 29





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is Fen's fault.

She was in the medical centre prepping  to check over their newest inhabitants  when the radio crackled to life.

“Medical, come in.”

Abby snagged the radio off her desk. “Medical here. What’s going on?”

There was some static, then Marcus’s voice said, “Astrid is gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“I mean she was complaining of a headache this morning, and ten minutes ago she fell over. She was dead by the time we got to her.”

Abby put the radio to her forehead and closed her eyes, her thoughts jumbling one over the others at the news.

“Abby?”

She roused. “I’m here,” she said. “How are the children?”

Static. “They’re okay so far. She fed the baby not long before she- we should be there in another few hours. She’s going to need to eat.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Medical out.”

Abby Griffin had learned to expect almost anything at this point in her life. After the failure of the Ark, the ground being survivable, an alliance with- and then joining- the coalition, the tenuous grasp on peace until Luna returned as Commander, Pike and his mutiny; she was fairly convinced nothing could shake her. It had been a fairly peaceful two and a half years under Luna’s rule, and Skaikru had worked hard to establish a permanent home. Marcus had spent a lot of time with Indra and other clan leaders, negotiating land use and trade and bartering knowledge for things they didn’t know they needed.

She was proud of him, this man who’d once been so rule-bound and harsh who’d mellowed into a compassionate but no less dedicated leader. They’d managed to make a life on the ground, for themselves and their people. They had a permanent ambassador in Polis and after the initial bumps on the road and proving themselves to the other clans had managed to establish themselves as equal members of the coalition. She didn’t see Clarke as often as she’d like, but things were... nice. Mostly quiet. She was content to live in Arkadia with Marcus, co-administering their ‘clan’ and putting out the fires that came with caring for what amounted to a town of several hundred people.

Then Marcus came home from his biannual trip to Polis, with a bundle in his arms and a toddler by his side, and her world turned upside down once again.


	2. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Decisions Are Made.

It wasn’t their first argument, not by far, but it was turning out to be the most serious of their relationship.

“Marcus, I know you’re attached to them-”

“It’s not just that, Abby. I’m **responsible** for them.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to raise them ourselves,” she hissed, throwing a cloth over her shoulder and moving the baby upright to burp. She patted the infant’s back and sighed. There was a little boy sleeping in their bed, clothes and diapers strewn around their usually neat quarters, and Marcus was standing across from her with that look on his face.

“They’re not stray dogs. We have to think of what’s best for them.”

“I **am** thinking about what’s best for them. We’ve asked around, Abby. It’s been two weeks. Short of ordering someone to take them, no one wants to get involved in case Azgeda comes calling. No matter how many times we explain that’s never going to happen.” Clan membership was matrilineal, and Astrid was Skaikru. The children were theirs, for better or worse.

The baby burped loudly, and Abby mopped the mess from her mouth. “And what about what’s best for us? We’re not young any more, we both have full time jobs-”

“I’ll delegate.”

“You’re Chancellor, you can’t delegate everything.”

He cross to her and took the baby into his arms, looking Abby in the eye. “I can delegate some things.  I can- I can step down.”

Abby stared. “Marcus Kane, you know very well you can’t do that.” She looked over his face, his expression telling her this was a battle she was going to lose. “You really want them that much?”

He sat down on the couch,  hand on the baby’s head. “I won’t choose them over you,” he said finally. “But yes. I want them.”

She joined him, folding a leg under her. “I’m 45  years old, Marcus.”

“And I’m 47.”

She laid a head against his shoulder. “We’re old.”

“Not that old.”

“They could be our grandchildren.”

“If they were, would you hesitate to take them in?”

He had her there. If they were her grandchildren, nothing could keep her from raising them herself and they both knew it.

“It’s going to be hard,” she warned. “Harder than anything we’ve ever done.”

Marcus freed an arm from between them and wrapped it around her, pulling her close. “But we’ll be doing it together,” he said against her temple. 

“I can’t believe I’m saying yes to this,” she said, reaching over to stroke the baby’s brow. 

He hesitated slightly. “Would it bother you if I spoke to them in Trig? They’re half Grounder, I don’t want them to lose that.”

“No, they should have that. I guess that means I brush up on my Trig.”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt,” he said, and she pinched him lightly. 

“Spousal abuse,” he claimed, and she shushed him.

“You’ll wake the baby. Besides, it’s not as if you don’t like it.”

“Well, you do always kiss it better.”

“Hmm. Less of that from now on though.” She kissed his cheek as she rose, laughing at the look on his face. “Didn’t think of that, did you?”

The baby began to fuss lightly at the commotion, and Marcus snagged a flailing hand with his finger, watching the grip tighten against him. “I think it’ll be worth it,” he said softly.

Abby ran a hand through his hair, and he smiled up at her. “It always is.”


	3. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abby reflects on their decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Jamie for looking this over, and to Kelly(USC) for helping me sort out some headcanons!

Abby shuffled and swayed her way across the floor, exhausted. She didn’t remember being so tired when Clarke was small, but on the other hand she was now twice as old and with twice as many children. It was late and Arthur was finally dozing fitfully on her shoulder, his mousy curls blending into hers in a way that made her stomach twist with the same sweet ache it did seeing Rosalie’s dark hair against Marcus’s.

The boy twisted suddenly, butting his head against her jaw and making her wince. She rubbed his back and he calmed, snuggling into her neck with a wet sigh. She hadn’t been certain about taking on both children. She wouldn’t have been certain about taking on one, at her age. In many ways she still wasn’t- everything she’d said was true. They were older, they were busy, so many people depended on them for the big picture. How could they make room for children?

There were other reasons, too, that she hadn’t brought up. Ones like, how would this affect their relationship? They barely had time for each other as it was. How would they cope with something no one in their society had for nearly a hundred years- two children. And not just two children, but two under the age of 2?  And not just issues of time, but how life changes you when you become a parent. It was something she and Jake had struggled with as young people; how would she and Marcus adjust? 

She thought about whether it was fair to herself to take them on. Marcus would be an equal partner in parenting the way he was in everything else, of that she had no doubts. But there was so much more to  _ mother _ that he didn’t understand and as a man probably never would.

Then she wondered was it fair  to the children. They weren’t young any more. They couldn’t  keep up with the physical demands the way younger parents would. It would always be a more sedate household than the one Clarke had grown up in, and these children would be destined to lose two sets of parents at a much more tender age than their peers.

B ut for a week at least, her heart had  also  been telling her  other things. It reminded her of how she once wished the restrictions on the Ark didn’t exist, of how her arms had ached for years to hold another child. How she and Jake had lain awake at night and talked about their second, the one they would have had if the one child policy wasn’t in place.

She nuzzled Arthur’s curls and thought about how much she loved the sweet weight of him against her.  How having a little voice call for ‘Mama’ in the night and answering it brought back so many memories, even knowing he didn’t mean her . “ _ Not yet,” _ she thought, and held him to her a little more tightly. Her mother’s heart, keening for the loss of  a daughter who needed her , was being filled with the presence of two little motherless babies and it just chanted ‘ _ yes, yes,  _ _**yes** _ ’ at her despite her misgivings.

A rthur, at 15 months, was walking steadily and using his few words to try and communicate.  A lot of that communication was how much he wanted Mama, and he was inconsolable when the wrong face appeared at his call. He was sweet, though, with a gentle disposition. Even when he went where he wasn’t supposed to or played with something he shouldn’t, he would alert  someone  to his misdeed before it could be discovered. Yesterday he had brought her an uncapped bottle  of pills , lifting it to her with a concerned “Uh-oh!”  She’d spent the next hour on all fours playing ‘what can we see’ with him, collecting enough items to turn her  stomach at the thought of what could have happened if he wasn’t so obliging.

Rosalie was entirely different to her brother; in the two weeks since her arrival at Arkadia she’d made that abundantly clear.  Though they shared the same round  eyes and face, Rosalie was dark to Arthur’s fair. His curls would turn lighter in the sun, but  she was sure  Rosalie’s dark wisps, devoid of any curl so far, wouldn’t. Abby had seen babies born with dark hair and have it come in lighter later, but she secretly hoped- for Marcus’s sake, she told herself- that she stayed this way. And though she was scarcely a month old, she was every bit as demanding and set in her routine as Arthur was easygoing and flexible. 

Marcus was smitten.

He wore her in a makeshift sling while Arthur spent his days  with a few age-mates at their town’s burgeoning nursery school. Rosalie was on her way to becoming an unofficial mascot, having attended nearly every Council meeting and office chat, every inspection and pop-in question period. She napped quietly against the steady heartbeat Abby knew so well, and Marcus was an attentive guardian, ready with a soft word or a warm bottle.  They had fallen into a routine where Abby picked up Arthur in the afternoon and then they swapped, Abby taking Rosalie while she finished her reports and Marcus playfully chasing Arthur down the hall toward the mess to get them all dinner. T hey felt like a family, and Abby knew before they had started she was going to lose a battle she wasn’t sure she wanted to win. 

She felt the steady rise and fall of the little body on her and knew she needed to put him down but was loathe to do it. Still, she needed sleep. The baby was quiet for now but would be up soon for a feed and it was Abby’s turn. She lay him down gently in his makeshift cot, something twisting in her belly as he instinctively clung to her before relaxing into his bedding. He mumbled something that sounded like ‘mbby’ and she couldn’t tell if that was a name or a noise but knew which she wanted it to be. She brushed his hair away from his face and tucked his lovey under his arm, then crawled in to her own bed  beside Marcus.  She  peer ed over to ensure Rosalie was  still  safe and sound  in her bedside basket  before she nestled into the arm that had snaked around her middle.

This was going to be an adventure, but she’d been on plenty before. Even the one called family. And f amily, she thought as she drifted into oblivion, felt nice.


End file.
